Electrical plug-cut-out cover.



PATENTED FEB: 28, 1905. W. C. TREGONING.

ELECTRICAL PLUG CUT-OUT COVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1904 2 SHEETS-SHEET l No. 788,653. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. W. G. TREGONING.

ELECTRICAL PLUG GUT-OUT COVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

all!

UNITED STATES Patented February 28,1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM' C. TREGONING, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO PERKINS CORPORATION, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRICAL PLUG-CUT-OUT COVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,653, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed June 13,1904. Serial No. 212,344.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LVVILLIAM C. TREGONING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Electrical Plug-Cut-Out Cover, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a cover for an electric plugcutout which is provided with a shutter for closing the plug-opening through the cover when the plug is removed.

The object of the invention is to produce a construction which is cheap to manufacture, easy to apply, and simple to open when it is desired to insert the plug for connecting electric wires with a main circuit.

Each of the covers illustrated by the accompanying drawings has two plug-openings and two shutters provided with rack-teeth that are engaged by the teeth of a pinion which has a slot for receiving a key that is attached to the plug. hen the key is inserted into the slot and the plug is turned into such position that its pins may be thrust through the openings in the cover, the pinion-teeth engage the rackteeth and swing the shutters from beneath the openings. In the first form illustrated when the plug and key are withdrawn a spring swings .the shutters beneath the openings, and in the second form the plug cannot be withdrawn until the key is turned so as to cause the shutters to he swung beneath the openings. Although the invention is illustrated in both instances in connection with a cover having two openings and two shutters, it resides in a cover having a single opening and a single shutter.

Figure 1 of the views shows a plan of a cover providedwith the invention. Fig. 2. shows a side View of a plug which is adapted to be used with this cover. central longitudinal section of this cover. Fig. 4 shows a plan of the frame-plate and shutters. Fig. 5 shows a plan of a modified form of cover that embodies the invention. Fig. 6 shows acentral longitudinal section of this modified form of cover. Fig. 7 shows a plan of the frame-plate and shutters, and Fig.

Fig. 3 shows a.

8 shows a side view of a plug arranged for this modified form of cover.

The face-plate 1 is formed of common material to the usual outline and has perforations 2 for the screws which fasten it to the frameplate 3 and perforations st for the passage of the plug-pins 5.

In the form first shown the upper end of a sleeve 7 extends through the face-plate. This sleeve has an oblong slot 8 in its upper end shaped to receive the plug-key 9, and it bears the shuttrT-pinion 10. The lower end of the sleeve is surrounded by a spring 11, that has one end connected with the sleeve and the other end connected with the frame-plate, so as to tend to rotate the sleeve and pinion in one direction. The lower end of the sleeve and the spring are inclosed in a hub 12, that is fastened to the under side of the frameplate.

The shutters 13 are pivoted to the upper side of the frame-plate. On the edges of the shutters are rack-teeth which mesh with the teeth of the pinion. The spring is so arranged that the pinion normally holds the shutters beneath the openings in the faceplate for the plug-pins.

The key on the plug is thrust into the slot in the sleeve and then turned until the plugpins are over the plug-openings in the far-eplate. Turning the key in this manner causes the shutters to be moved from beneath the openings, so that when the pins are in proper position they can be thrust down and engaged with the electrical contacts in the interior of the cut-out to which the cover is applied. The key is arranged between the plug-pins in such manner that the plug must be rotated before the pins can be thrust through the openings in the face-plate, and this rotation moves the shutters from beneath the openings. A slot 1A is arranged in the inner end of the hub in such position that the key cannot be thrust way down until it is so turned that the pins are directly in line with the pin-openings in the plate. In this form when the plug is removed the spring causes the pinion to swing the shutters beneath the pin-openings.

In the second form of the invention that is illustrated the pinion-sleeve 15 does not extend through the face-plate 16; but through the face-plate in line with the sleeve is a slot 17, that is so shaped that the bit 18 of the key can only be inserted or removed when the plug 5 is in one position, preferably transversely of the face-plate. In the lower end of the sleeve is a similar slot 19, and in the hub 20, that is formed on the frame-plate 21, is a slot 22, that is arranged so that the bit of the key cannot pass through until the plug is turned so that the pins 23 stand over the openings 24. \Vith this construction the key must first be inserted through the face-plate and into the slot in the pinion-sleeve with the plug transversely of the face-plate, and before the plug can be pushed down it must be turned so as to stand longitudinally with relation to the face-plate. This turns the shutters from beneath the plugopenings in the face plate. hen it is desired to remove the plug after the key has been drawn out of the opening in the hub and before it can be drawn through the opening in the face-plate, it must be turned so as to stand transversely of the face-plate in order that the bitof the key may be drawn through the slot in the face-plate. Turning the plug in this manner turns the shutters back beneath the plug-openings through the face-plate.

In each form the plug cannot be inserted until it is turned so that the shutters are moved from beneath the openings, and then it is free to be inserted. In both forms the shutters are closed beneath the openings through the face-plate when the plug is removed, so that dust, dirt, and moisture, or anything which will short-circuit the cut-out cannot enter.

The invention claimed is 1. An electrical )lug-cut0utcover having a plug-opening, a shutter movable beneath the opening,and a pinion adapted to move the shut ter from beneath the opening, substantially as specified.

2. An electrical plug-cut-out cover havinga plug-opening, an oscillating shutter movable beneath the opening, and a part held against longitudinal movement but adapted to be rotated by a key for oscillating the shutter from beneath the opening, substantially as specified. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having a ])lug0pening, a shutter movable beneath the opening and provided with rack-teeth, and a pinion engaging the shutter-teeth and adapted to be rotated by a key, substantially as specilied.

4:. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having a plug-opening, a shutter movable in one plane beneath the opening, a part engaging the shutter and held against longitudinal movement but adapted to be rotated by a key for moving the shutter from beneath the opening, and a spring for moving the shutter beneath the opening, substantially as specified.

5. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having a plug-opening, a shutter movable beneath the opening, a pinion having a key-slot arranged. to move the shutter from beneath the opening when turned by the key, and a hub having a key-slot that does not register with the keyslot in the pinion until the pinion has moved the shutter from beneath the plug-maening, substantially as specified.

6. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having plug-openings, shutters movable beneath the openings, and a pinion for moving the shutters from beneath the openings, substantially as specified.

7. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having plug-openings, shutters movable beneath the openings, a pinion adapted to move the shutters from beneath the openings, and a spring adapted to move the shutters beneath the openings, substantially as specified.

8. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having plug-openings, oscillating shutters i'novable beneath the openings, a pinion adapted to oscillate the shutters, a spring adapted to rotate the pinion in one direction, and a key ittltphctl to rotate the pinion in the opposite direction, substantially as specified.

9. An electrical plug-cut-out cover having plug-openings, shutters movable beneath the openings, a pinion with a key-slot adapted to move the shutters in one direction, a spring adapted to move the shutters in the opposite direction, and a hub with a key-slot that does not register with the key-slot in the pinion until the pinion has been rotated so as to move the shutters from beneath the openings, substantially as specified.

\"Vitnesses:

E'runn M. Lows, H. It. \Vnnamus. 

